I just read a very interesting article by anthropologist James S. Bielo, "Belief, Deconversion, and Authenticity among U.S. Emerging Evangelicals." Bielo points out that a growing number of young evangelicals are moving out of churches that emphasize individual faith and having the right beliefs to instead embrace a Christianity that accepts fuzziness and ambiguity (after all, humans are limited in their capacity to know "truth") and stresses relationships with and service to others, not holding the proper doctrinal positions.
It seems to me, also, that this sort of Christianity is pragmatic inasmuch as it puts a premium on a faith that works. As I understand it, religion in traditional societies is a tool rather than a sentiment, a way to adjust oneself to how the world is. One pours libations to the ancestors not simply to demonstrate respect, to do them some sort of favor, but because to neglect them is to invite disaster, even retaliation. If the great disaster of the Modern West is loneliness, our greatest demon self-preoccupation, then a faith that invites us to love our neighbors as ourselves is not simply a religious imperative, but a tall glass of water in an arid wasteland.
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